Berean boys edged by Inman in Burrton finals

Tuesday

Jan 22, 2013 at 7:02 AMJan 22, 2013 at 7:02 AM

By Mark Schnabel Newton Kansan

BURRTON — The Berean Academy boys’ basketball team got off to the start it wanted Saturday night in the championship game of the 34th Burrton Invitational, but Inman was able to get the finish it needed for an 44-43 win. Berean trailed by 11 with less than three minutes to play, but was able to get within one by the final buzzer, missing a couple of chances to take the lead. “We got in foul trouble, and that really hurt our rotation,” Berean coach Lewis Wiebe said. “That affected some of our match-ups. (Loren) Pearce got in foul trouble early, and that hurt us offensively. We just didn’t get any rhythm going. Turnovers were huge tonight. That was a killer. I don’t know how many we had, but we had too many. We had some that were just fundamental mistakes.” The loss was the second Berean suffered against Inman this season. Josh Miller and Justin Friessen each scored 10 points for Inman, 8-5. Berean, 7-5, was led by Loren Pearce with 15 points and Kameron Wiebe with 11. Berean jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Inman finally scored a pair of free throws and a layup off a steal in the final minute of the quarter. A Kameron Wiebe putback at the buzzer put the Warriors ahead 9-4 at the end of the period. Berean opened the second quarter with a pair of free throws, followed by a 16-3 Inman run to take a six-point lead. Kameron Wiebe hit a putback with 1.2 seconds left, followed by a free throw, to cut the Inman lead to three, 20-17, at the half. Berean was six of 22 from the field in the first half. Inman was six of 17. Berean opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run. Inman ended the period with a 10-6 run to lead 30-29. Inman scored the first six points of the fourth quarter. A Friessen trey from NBA length put Inman up by seven with 4:54 in regulation. Berean took a time out, but turned the ball over, leading to an Inman layup. Another turnover led to another Inman layup, putting the Teutons up by 11 with 2:42 to play. The Warriors charged back with an 8-0 run capped by a Dallas Wiebe trey with 1:26 in regulation. Miller broke the run with two free throws with 1:03 in regulation. T.J. Guhr answered with an unopposed layup. After a turnover and missed free throw for Inman, Berean drew within one on a Kameron Wiebe putback with 22.1 seconds in regulation. After another Inman free throw miss, Berean missed a 3-point shot with .5 seconds remaining. Inman got the deadball rebound and the inbounds pass in to win the game. “We just have to learn to execute better,” Lewis Wiebe said. “We have to learn to handle some situations. It shouldn’t come to that. Inman had some guys hit some shots for them who weren’t key scorers. I have to compliment them for what they did today.” Berean plays Moundridge Jan. 29 in Moundridge.